I recently became an atheist, anyone willing to help me out?

I am somewhat familiar with atheism, but I want to be educated on what science aspects go alongside atheism. I want to be able to properly and intelligently defend my reasoning of being atheist to my religious family. Also, if anyone knows any good books I should read, it would be greatly appreciated if you let me know. Thank you!

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I think this is were I kind of failed, I only read snippets of the Bible (ironically the bad parts) and ignored the good. Even so, now that I'm going back to it, I'm reading it for what it is. An ancient book of literature and nothing more.

Welcome to reality Kaila! I support the suggestions below--Dawkins and Hitchens are must reads. I have also found The Christ Conspiracy by Acharya S a really great source to debunk the belief that Jesus was a real person and helping Christians-- understand that the whole "story" is a compiliation of older, previous god beliefs. I remember the feeling of liberation I had when I "discovered" that I was an atheist... almost a giddy high for months! You will find out that you are not alone-- in fact, you will actually be shocked at how many other nonbelievers are out there! Good luck with the family-- this is always difficult. You may find that the truely indoctrinated simply cannot accept reality as it threatenes everything they believe and it just may be too scary to deal with. So good luck and welcome!

I agree with that. It's very satisfying to ask a theist if they have actually read the bible all the way through. When I tell them that I have and I find out that they have not, I have the high ground.

Just the book of Job is enough though. God is just playing a game with Job. Kills all his 8 wives just to see how he will react (plus several other things). So later he makes up for it by giving him 8 new wives? Really? That makes up for it? What a loving god he is.

Oh, and if I were god, I'm sure I wouldn't have needed the Pharaoh's permission to get MY people out of Egypt. And it sure is a nasty god that would kill all those children.

So many other points to ponder, all mentioned in that book about "God's Problem".

Wasn't it 10 children that Job had? Don't remember any wives - perhaps it was immaculate conception x 10. Anyway, as god would say "the devil made me do it!" Or was that Flip Wilson?

There's also the tale of Onan who was struck dead for ejaculating outside of his wife's vagina, thus avoiding conception altogether. He has been the poster boy for the anti-masturbation bullies ever since. Struck dead for masturbating? That would certainly solve the overpopulation crisis.

Either way the bible is pretty clear throughout...you're not a REAL person unless you're an adult male. Women and children are expendable either way. Even the commandments state it from specifically a male point of view. Nothing about coveting thy neighbour's husband. And all I can remember about the evils of homosexuality is between two men not women...unless someone can correct me? I'd guess being written by men, the lesbian thing was just considered hot (^_-).

Science is made up of theories, to explain nature, that can be independently verified to be true or false.

Atheism is the lack of belief in God.

Personally I can not see any link between science and atheism. But I can see a link between religion and science. Religion is a prehistoric attempt to explain nature, that was written down when writing was invented. But atheism attempts to do nothing, it's just a lack of belief in god.

I see nothing wrong with the Bible, in the same way as I see nothing wrong with Star-Wars. But the main problem I have with religion is the 'forced indoctrination of children' by adults.

Another good source, yeah. I've only recently started looking into it, myself. I suggest all atheists in a Christian-dominated country like America read the Bible. I've already read it straight through, but I'm looking through various potions of it again, since obviously, it didn't all stick on the first pass.

First of all, congratulations, Kaila! It's a huge step coming out like this, and a brave one, so good for you. I sort of know what you're going through with your family since I'm still the only atheist in my entire family, immediate and extended. I come from a long line of fundamentalists, so it can be really difficult when the people you care about most suddenly seem to turn on you and try to re-convert you.

My advice to you is to take some time away from your family, at least engagement-wise. If you're anything like me, you need some time to get to know yourself as an atheist, and purge some of the ideas that you were raised with. We call this "de-converting." Set some boundaries with them as to what you will and will not discuss, and let them know that you'll let them know when you're ready to talk about it. You're a baby atheist! Give yourself some time before you walk into the Battle of Little Bighorn.

I'd second the advice given above in saying to hold off on "God Delusion" and "God Is Not Great," at least if you're trying to keep your family around. Dawkins and Hitchens come from the neo-atheism camp, which is really aggressive towards religion. I'd recommend Sam Harris' "The Moral Landscape," Michael Shermer's "How We Believe" and Robert Wright's "The Evolution of God." Also, if you're interested in science I can't recommend any of Dawkins' other books more strongly, particularly "The Selfish Gene" and "The Blind Watchmaker." I practically had a religious experience reading the former, just in the way that Dawkins describes cellular evolution! Massimo Pigliucci is also a great author (and blogger), and his most recent book "Nonsense on Stilts" or even "Denying Evolution" are fantastic places to start.

Third, I would say get on Meetup.com or do an Internet search and find your closest atheist/freethinker groups. Check out the Atheist Community of Tulsa. Start going to events and meet other atheists. It's really important to start surrounding yourself with people who are going to help and encourage you.